I hope Ashley can regain her national title and get some good international results going forward. With Yuna gone and Mao possibly gone, I've actually latched onto Ashley a bit. I love how she attacks her programs and has this edge to her, rather than being some pretty ice princess. She has her own style and she knows how to sell a routine. I really hope she's the leading US lady for the next quad (sorry, I find Gracie too pageanty. Polina has potential and I like what I saw at Worlds, but she's yet to get the fire that Ashley has).

I'm not enough of a tech expert to figure out what Ashley has to do to get there, but I wish her all the best.

I agree with you completely. Ashley has the personality and artistic range that Gracie and Polina have yet to show. Gracie is more technically capable than she is, but Gracie has a long way to go in terms of expression (she can't just keep up the whole ice-princess thing). I also look forward to seeing Polina in the future, since she needs to grow into her body and still looks a bit awkward/coltish. As far as I'm concerned, at this point Ashley is the most promising of the U.S. ladies and I wouldn't write her off for the next quadrennial.

She's almost 23 and all the top contenders now are pretty much teenagers (suppose Mao is not in the picture).

Originally Posted by Sandpiper

Well, we'll wait and see. Carolina won an Olympic medal at 27, so I won't write Ashley off just yet. Then again, I'm not invested in Team USA as a whole. I simply like Ashley the best of the current crop of girls and want her to do well.

I have to say, my heart has changed so much for Ashley. The way she moves, glides, and sells her performances on the ice is captivating. I just wish she had the technical merit to back her up, because she is superb everywhere else. She will have to make some good decisions if she ever wants to stand a fighting chance.

Wagner is a bit of a Suzuki for me. She can be brilliant and the best in her country when she's on, but has some technical issues and prone to a 3-3< that holds her back from being at the top, as well as not really credited by the judges PCS-wise.

Well-said. Both are beautiful skaters but occasionally struggle with their jumps. I just hope that Ashley can replicate the kind of career Akiko has had...to think that she turned 29 when she competed at Worlds last month is pretty amazing. People have been quick to point out that Ashley will be 26 by the time Pyeongchang rolls around and new talent will have emerged, but if she can keep up her health and work on some of her elements there's no reason she shouldn't make the Olympic team.